I'm a Labour MP and this is why I still can't support the government's disability benefits cuts

While I can appreciate some of the intentions behind certain proposals within this bill, I cannot support reforms that include devastating cuts to welfare.

I am aware that at the current rate, the cost of our welfare system is unsustainable, but equally, we are in no position to take essential money away from vulnerable individuals before adequate and necessary support is put in place.

There are other ways to increase funding and these are conversations I and many colleagues of mine would be willing to have. However, at this moment we have not been given the chance.

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I have met with the secretary of state one-to-one, spoken with special advisors, treasury staff, ministers and no one has been able to alleviate my concerns around these reforms, or show any desire to actually engage in a conversation about different methods to raise this vital money.

There are major concessions needed for myself and colleagues to support this bill, not rushed attempts at papering over significant cracks in the policy.

I’d want to see employment support funded up front as opposed to drip-fed over four years. Employers must properly support disabled people in the workplace, and this appears an essential measure to ensure this happens.

I also wish to see the four-point system scrapped entirely. I do not wish to see new claimants, who still need support as much as legacy claimants do, falling short of the changes to criteria. I do not wish to see a new two-tier PIP system, ripe with inequality, established. 

I want to keep universal credit health element for under 22s, preventing an unnecessary hole in the safety net widening.

A critical issue of this bill, is the conflation of two very distinct, separate conversations. I agree, we should be looking at how we can support those relatively healthy, able-bodied, economically-inactive people back into work and economic contribution. However, this is a separate issue to those disabled people and those who struggle with ill-health, that cannot work and need support.

The past week has shown the chaos these rushed reforms are creating. Conversations around the welfare cuts have been happening non-stop and inboxes have been flooded with concerns, not just from constituents but from charities, disability groups and even from employers who feel unprepared to step in with the level of support that will be required if these cuts proceed.

We need to recognise that pushing through a bill that has not been fully thought through, without sufficient consultation with those who will be impacted, is not just unwise, it is irresponsible.

Concessions are still being negotiated. Nothing will be confirmed until Monday at the earliest.

The concessions that are being reported however, are not good enough for me. I’m seriously concerned the PIP suggestions would create a two-tier system which is a constant critique levelled at the government. The timeline of carrying this out effectively is far too short and we still have no impact assessments to base our voting on. I will therefore still be voting against these poorly thought out cuts to disability benefits.

Many are trying to pin MPs like me, who have been confident enough to discuss our issues on these welfare cuts publicly, as being rebels whose main goal is to bring down the current government. 

Let me be clear: that is not true. There is no coup attempt here. I am so proud of this government’s achievements in the first year, beginning to put right several complicated issues – caused by over a decade of poor Tory leadership. 

I am proud of the increases to renters rights, employees rights and of actions against greedy water bosses who have been allowed to get away with abusing the system for too long.

But this green paper, outlining welfare cuts that condemn the most vulnerable in our society to fall through the very safety net that is meant to protect them, is something I simply refuse to vote for.

The thinking behind this bill equally continues to reinforce a harmful and deeply flawed narrative. A narrative that wrongly portrays disabled people who are unable to work as unwilling or undeserving, casting them as scroungers rather than individuals in need of support. It ignores a fundamental truth: that many people need help through no fault of their own.

I know some will say that if I truly care, I should stay quiet and negotiate behind closed doors, but the stakes are too high for silence. If we, as a country, believe in fairness, dignity and the value of every person, then it is our duty to speak out when these values are under threat, no matter how inconvenient it may be for the smooth running of the parliamentary week or our stature within our party.

I am a Labour party MP sticking up for what I believe are Labour party values. That is what I believe I was elected for and that is what I will continue to do.

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